Coronavirus

Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Thursday in Washington

The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,584 new cases of COVID-19 and 32 deaths Thursday.

Pierce County reported 228 cases Thursday and one new death. Pierce County has a total of 391 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 307,809 cases and 4,243 deaths. Those numbers are up from 305,225 cases and 4,211 deaths Wednesday. The case total includes 13,831 cases listed as probable. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.

Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Hospitalizations

As of Jan. 9, the date with the most recent complete data, 83 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 90 in mid-January.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,243), approximately 80.3% (998) were occupied by patients Thursday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 15.7% (195) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Case rates

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 21.2 per 100,000 people. Five states were lower.

The national rate for the same period was 48.8 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arizona has the highest rate in the United States at 94.2. Hawaii is the lowest at 7.8.

Vaccine

According to DOH, 545,226 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Washington.

As of Thursday, 774,425 doses had been delivered to state providers and 125,775 had been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care vaccination program. Of those delivered doses, 60.5% had been administered.

Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.

Currently, Washington state is in phase 1B tier 1 of vaccinations. That phase adds anyone 65 years and older and people 50 years and older living in multigenerational households.

On the national level, 48.3 million doses have been distributed and 26.1 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics. The population of the United States is approximately 328 million.

Testing

On Jan. 9, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 16,633 specimens were collected statewide, with 9.6% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 9.7%. More than 4.4 million tests have been conducted in Washington. The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.

County numbers

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 77,067 cases and 1,233 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 33,488. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 484.

All counties in Washington have cases. Only Columbia, San Juan and Wahkiakum counties have case counts of fewer than 100.

U.S. and world numbers

There have been more than 25.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 432,540 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Thursday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 2.1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 101 million.

This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Thursday in Washington."

Craig Sailor
The News Tribune
Craig Sailor has worked for The News Tribune since 1998 as a writer, editor and photographer. He previously worked at The Olympian and at other newspapers in Nevada and California. He has a degree in journalism from San Jose State University.
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